Attention is still firmly focused on the see-saw state of Florida, but there are intriguing signals of post-electoral tension in other states, which could have a dramatic effect on the final outcome.

The Albany Times Union in upstate New York, for example, gives prominence to an Associated Press report of a remarkable turn-round in New Mexico (which commands five votes in the electoral college): "Democrat Al Gore regained the lead in New Mexico after picking up 500 votes today in Dona Ana County, where officials had misread an absentee total. Gore now leads Republican George W Bush by 374 votes, though New Mexico's five electoral votes are not enough to give either candidate the presidency. Gore moved ahead after a seesaw week in which his Election Night lead of 6,000-plus votes dwindled in the following days, giving Bush a narrow advantage. The latest change in Dona Ana County gave Gore 286,389 statewide to 286,015 for Republican George W Bush."

Many commentators have noted the remarkable patience with which most American voters are treating the recount imbroglio. The Atlanta Journal, in its leader column, has a crisp explanation: "The core of American democracy lies where it has always been - in the ballots that are cast by its citizens. So count the ballots. Count every legal vote that was cast in Florida, and count them by hand if necessary. Count them in Democratic areas; count them in Republican areas. And don't stop until you're finished. The candidate with the most votes then becomes our next president, fair and square. Amid all the legal wrangling and talk-show rhetoric, we're in danger of forgetting how utterly simple and definitive a resolution of this mess can be: Just count the votes. Let the ballots do the talking, because within those ballots resides the wisdom of the people."

The Detroit Free Press expands on the theme: "The key to a Bush presidency - or a Gore presidency if it comes to that - will be the credibility of the Florida vote, which seems certain to settle the election. Neither man would ever be able to claim anything like a mandate, but a credible victory in the deciding state is more valid than a favorable court decision."

The Houston Chronicle is in defensive mode, with an editorial on the foreigners who are "snickering" about US democracy. Americans, says the paper, are also laughing at themselves - and can afford to: "Mainly, though, Americans are going about their normal routine, calmly monitoring the progress of vote-counting and other developments. No violence, no coup attempts, no civil war. Most believe this situation eventually will be resolved to widespread satisfaction, even if about 50 percent of the voting public would have preferred the other candidate had won. That's why Americans in the end will laugh last."

The stridently tabloid New York Post has no doubt that its man, George W Bush, is heading for the White House. "Dubya closer to victory" yells its main headline, while its leader column rubbishes Al Gore's rearguard legal action: "The battle for Florida continued unabated yesterday, growing ever more confused except in one critical respect: Al Gore made it quite clear that he won't quit until he has robbed the American presidency of what little dignity it retained after eight years in the hands of Bill Clinton."

The Miami Herald, at the heart of the Florida recount action, deplores the legal wrangling which has eclipsed the democratic process: "As winter approached we in Florida expected a gaggle of geese. Instead, this dispute has brought a gaggle of lawyers. But this election does not belong to them or to the candidates; it belongs to the people. To engage lawyers to press endless esoteric arguments in this process would inordinately complicate rather than clarify a confused situation."

Even closer to the electoral epicentre, the Palm Beach Post reports that [Democratic] county officials are set to defy [Republican] State instructions, by proceeding with a manual recount of ballots, which just could decide the presidency. One local official says she is ready to go to jail if necessary. But the recount has been delayed by the intensely political bickering among Florida high officials: "Palm Beach County had made elaborate plans and mustered shifts of workers to begin the recount Tuesday. But the board held off because the state Division of Elections, under Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris, claimed that the county had no authority to hand count all the ballots unless flaws were found in voting machines. Later Tuesday morning, the Attorney General's Office, under Democrat Bob Butterworth, said it could."